When InteliRain CEO Cam Cote realised that wind was thwarting the efficiency of his sprinklers, he turned to a University of Alberta mathematician to develop an innovative solution through a Mitacs internship.

A recent outbreak of spruce budworm infestation in Quebec contributed to millions of dollars in lost revenue potential for Canada’s lumber industry and threatened forests in northern New Brunswick. This prompted researchers at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and Carleton University to partner in the development of solutions to ward off the forest pest.

The devastating impacts of flooding are widely understood, but for Mitacs Globalink intern Ashwini Petchiappan they hit close to home. Ashwini and her family were living in Mumbai when the city experienced a catastrophic flood in 2005.

My initial estimate of this “water footprint” showed that 1,900 litres of water were required every year to grow one kilogram of soybean in Southern Amazonia. However, this estimate was based on a crop modeling exercise with assumptions that don’t reflect the realities of producing in the tropics.

Yet people from the village of Valnur in Kodagu (Coorg district) took the sight in stride, affectionately dubbing us the “fish women” and inviting us into their homes for lunch and their temples for festivals.

“When we do a study like this, it lets us answer the question of how our rivers and forests are doing, it lets us know what our company’s water footprint looks like, and it gives us opportunities to be a good corporate citizen."

I conducted archaeological surveys in six communities in the northern area of the Flona-Tapajós and mapped 13 new archaeological sites associated with the Tapajó, as evidenced by the presence of ceramics and anthropogenic soils.